Lower Back Pain Relief

by Scott Sonnon

In general, men over 40 suffer some sort of bulging disc at various points throughout the day. The condition is far more common than most people think. Many surgeons are pathologically fixated on sending such people under the knife. There are many theories why: unethical conspiratorial greed, obvious insufficient educational holism, and simply horrible incumbent administrative policy.

For most people, if their condition is manageable, I suggest never going under the knife, especially since studies have shown that post-surgery pain diminishes only slightly while the obvious side-effects of surgical intervention make matters worse.

Last year I recovered from a herniated disc (C5-C6) incurred during a match. Full-contact fighting is inherently neck intensive, especially in the clinch. After seeking the advice of my sports medicine doctor, my acupuncturist and my chiropractor I applied the McKensie Extension Technique to Warrior Wellness™, and I rehabilitated my injury in only two weeks - pain-free.

Most people unconsciously do the worst thing for a herniated/bulging disc: they try to stretch it out. For instance, with a herniated cervical disc, people reflexively try to stretch it forward chin to chest. Although this seems to alleviate the pain temporarily, all it does is to help the disc bulge more by 'squirting' it out more.

The opposite motion is needed from a McKensie perspective to help move the disc back into place. Although the region is different for lumbar herniations, the McKensie application of the method is the same: movement designed to help 'squirt' the disc back into place.

Use Intuitive Training through the following exercises; never go beyond a rate of perceived discomfort of 4 on a scale of 1-10. Pushing through the pain will actually make the condition worse. Shallow movement and less pain (RPD of <4) is the only way to help the disc return to normal. I performed my exercises 10X per day, 10 reps at a time, and within a range appropriate to the RPD.

It wasn't a static progression. More stress on one day, or at any point through the day, means less range of motion without pain. That's just what life is. When you have stress it goes to the weak point. Training stress, as a result, must be eliminated in order to heal. Only light recovery training is appropriate until you can do such exercises as Warrior Wellness™, yoga, Body-Flow™, and/or Prasara at an RPE of <6 -- all lightly, not to depth, duration or challenge.

Inflammation can be helped by over the counter pharmaceuticals and ice. Hot pads seem to reduce pain, but they only exacerbate the inflammation (as I discovered through experience).

For lower back pain, I've found this application of McKensie Extension Technique to Warrior Wellness™' multi-planar spinal mobility to be helpful:

Prone lying: Lie on your stomach with arms along your sides and head turned to one side. Maintain this position for 5 to 10 minutes.

Prone lying on elbows: Lie on your stomach with your weight on your elbows and forearms and your hips touching the floor or mat. Relax your lower back. Remain in this position for 5 to 10 minutes. If this causes pain repeat exercise 1, then try again.

Prone press-ups: Lie on your stomach with palms near your shoulders as if you are about to do a standard push-up. Slowly push your shoulders up, keeping your hips on the surface and letting your back and stomach sag. Slowly lower your shoulders. Repeat 10 times.

Progressive extension with pillows: Lie on your stomach and place a pillow under your chest. After several minutes, add a second pillow. If this does not hurt, add a third pillow after a few more minutes. Stay in this position for up to 10 minutes. Remove the pillows one at a time over several minutes.

Standing extension: While standing, place your hands in the small of your back and lean backward. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat. Use this exercise after normal daily activities that place your back in a flexed position: lifting, forward bending, sitting, etc.

You CAN heal yourself. You CAN do it. Hydrate. Remove unnecessary stressors until the time when your physiology can handle it again, once you've healed. You CAN be pain-free. With patience, diligence in your 'homework', stress-free, good nutrition and hydration, lots of love and support... you will heal.

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